The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals (66 page)

It was said that it was the leaked photographs, coupled with stories of Bobby Brown’s infidelity and emotional abuse, which led Whitney to want to regain control of her career and clean up her life. Despite Brown’s protests, Whitney moved out of the family home and flew to California with their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, where she set about rebuilding her life, spending quality time with her daughter and doing simple things such as the school run and pottering around her home.

She filed for divorce from Brown, which became final in early 2007, and for a time things started to look up. Desperate to get her career back on track, Whitney entered the recording studio and the album that was created,
I Look to You
, was released in 2009. Unfortunately the big comeback left fans disappointed when it was noticed that there was a significant change in her voice. No longer could she hold long notes; her voice sounded deeper, as though she had a bad cold or had smoked too many cigarettes. In public Whitney did not seem to notice – or did not wish to accept – any difference, but when she was booed on stage during a shambolic concert tour, she surely must have known she was not the singer she once was.

Giving her first interview in seven years, Whitney appeared on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
in September 2009, where she opened her heart and admitted having formerly laced marijuana with rock cocaine on an everyday basis. She also went over the details of her marriage, telling Winfrey how she and her husband would sit for days on end, doing drugs and never once talking to each other – just sitting in the room watching television and never uttering one word. “It was that bad,” she admitted. When Oprah asked if she thought she’d ever go back to drugs, she seemed uncertain. “Don’t think I don’t have desires for it . . . I have to pray it away. One day at a time.”

Unfortunately, after taking things one day at a time for the next few years, the demons that had haunted Houston for so long returned. She was photographed looking dishevelled and rumours began to surface that she was back on drugs. Fans prayed that they were wrong, but when pictures surfaced of her coming out of a nightclub covered in sweat and in obvious distress, it could not be denied any longer; Whitney was in trouble once again.

On 6 February 2012, the singer checked into room 434 of the Beverly Hilton Hotel for a week of Grammy Award-related parties and celebrations. On Saturday, 11 February, she complained to her assistant of a sore throat that had been bothering her for a few days, and was told to take a bath and relax for a while. The assistant then went to run some errands, leaving her employer alone to ready herself for the party that was due to take place in the hotel that night. The time was approximately 3 p.m., but tragically by the time she returned at 3.36 p.m. Whitney Houston was dead.

The scene that greeted the assistant when she returned to the room was her boss face down in a bathtub which was filled to the top with water; the taps had been turned off but water was spilling all over the floor. The devastated employee immediately alerted a bodyguard and Houston was pulled out of the bath and an ambulance was called. It was too late, however, and when the paramedics arrived, Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at the scene. The time was 3.55 p.m. – just an hour since the singer had complained to her assistant that she had felt a little unwell and decided to take a bath.

When police arrived on the scene, they were shocked to discover the disarray that greeted them. Tablets, medication bottles, capsules and a spoon with “a white crystal-like substance in it” were all present in the room, along with “a rolled up piece of white paper”. The water in the bathtub was so hot that at 00.25 a.m. – a staggering nine hours after her death – the temperature still tested at an incredible 89 °F (30 °C).

When Whitney’s daughter Bobbi discovered that her mother had died, she was so distraught that she collapsed and was rushed to hospital. Staff members were seen weeping in the corridors, while downstairs a television crew who were due to interview the star were shocked when told the reason they could no longer film the segment.

Whitney Houston’s death was announced to the world, but while the news spread like wildfire, the pre-Grammys party that was being planned downstairs went ahead while Whitney’s body was apparently still lying just floors above. The event was turned into a tribute to the tragic singer, though understandably some guests refused to attend, citing that the episode was in bad taste and should have ultimately been cancelled or postponed.

Whitney’s body was eventually removed from the hotel and an autopsy was performed. After toxicology tests were run, it was eventually determined that her death was caused by accidental drowning, due to the effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use. However, in December 2012, Paul Huebl, a Los Angeles private investigator, revealed that he believed the singer had been murdered by drug dealers wishing to collect a debt of $1.5 million. Information relating to the case was said to have been turned over to the FBI, though whether or not they are investigating the theory seriously is not yet known.

On Saturday, 18 February, Whitney’s four-hour funeral took place at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. Dionne Warwick officiated, while friends such as Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys performed, and Whitney’s
Bodyguard
co-star Kevin Costner spoke a moving eulogy. Even her funeral, however, was tinged with scandal when her ex-husband Bobby Brown stormed from the church after a problem with the seating arrangements.

The next day, on 19 February 2012, Whitney was laid to rest in Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, New Jersey. She lies next to her father, apparently wearing her favourite dress, personal jewellery and gold slippers. Her ability to rest in peace, however, remains questionable, with concerns over enthusiastic fans and grave-robbers prompting the hiring of security guards to conduct round-the-clock patrols at the location where the once amazing singer now lies.

Actor Tom Cruise was no stranger to marriage: the first Mrs Cruise was actress Mimi Rogers, whom he divorced in 1990, and the second was Nicole Kidman, from whom he separated in February 2001. However, at the time he began dating actress Katie Holmes in April 2005, it seemed that this time the actor was well and truly smitten, and destined to live happily ever after . . .

By this time Tom Cruise was a global superstar, while Katie Holmes was the sweetheart of teen romance television drama,
Dawson’s Creek
. They made an interesting couple, and for several weeks rumours swirled that they were more than just good friends. Fans, reporters and the curious waited for an official announcement of their love, which eventually came in the shape of an appearance together in Rome.

Dressed casually in jeans and shirts, the couple were photographed for the first time on 27 April 2005, holding hands and greeting fans. Then two days later, on 29 April, they were snapped in far more glamorous attire as they arrived at the David di Donatello Award ceremony, where they thrilled onlookers with a very public kiss – something which was to become a frequent occurrence during the course of their relationship.

By the time the couple returned to the United States, the press had already christened them “TomKat” and began reporting every tiny detail of their lives for all to see. The public were intrigued; fans discussed the relationship on internet forums and photographers recorded their every move; but it was Tom’s appearance on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
on 23 May 2005 that really demonstrated how much the actor had fallen for his new love.

During the interview, Tom giggled like a lovestruck schoolboy; excitedly shook a gobsmacked Oprah; laughed uncontrollably when asked questions about Katie; and bizarrely punched the ground while crouching on the floor. But it was what came next that got everyone talking: Cruise suddenly leapt on to Oprah’s couch and began jumping up and down with his arms in the air. The crowd when wild, but the newspapers even more so, nicknaming Cruise “The Sofa Jumper” and wondering what he was going to do next. During the show he even ran off stage to drag his shy girlfriend on to meet the talk-show host, and once again enjoyed a very public kiss and cuddle in front of the delighted audience.

The press continued to report the couple’s every move to a hungry public, until finally on 6 October 2005 came the announcement that they were expecting a baby. Many people wished the couple well, but there were the odd few who did not, and internet trolls came out of the woodwork to create rumours that Katie wasn’t actually with child; that the pregnancy was nothing more than a false stomach made by Hollywood special-effects artists. In Katie’s case, whole forums began to pop up, discussing whether or not the couple were faking the entire thing. Photographs then appeared not only on the internet but in newspapers and magazines too, showing Katie’s bump frequently changing size and citing this as a reason why the pregnancy could not possibly be real. The entire thing was ridiculous, of course, as a pregnant woman’s bump changes size and shape throughout the average day, but this knowledge seemed lost on the trolls and most certainly did nothing to stop the rumours.

One day, when out on a windy street, Katie’s dress was caught in a breeze, resulting in the front of her outfit puffing out over her pregnancy bump and making it look as though the actress’s stomach was a rather distorted shape. Of course, someone was there to record the event, and immediately the gossip-mongers went into overdrive, refusing to believe that the photo was the result of a windy day, and declaring that it was definite “proof” that the pregnancy was fake.

Finally, Katie was photographed wearing a slightly cut-off top with the hint of stretch marks on her stomach. The photograph was blown up and published in magazines the world over, though even this was not enough to put paid to the rumours. “They’ve faked those too; it’s the work of make-up artists,” screamed crazed posters on internet sites.

When Tom and Katie’s daughter Suri was born on 18 April 2006, the couple sensibly decided to keep her from the prying eyes of the public, which sent conspiracy theorists into overdrive. “Where is the baby?” they asked, while they took to internet forums to accuse the pair of not actually having a baby at all. But Katie and Tom could not be pressured into showing her off until finally famed photographer Annie Leibovitz snapped the family for the October 2006 edition of
Vanity Fair
. The fact that Suri was the image of her father, Tom Cruise, quietened many of the theorists, though even seven years later there are still the odd few who still like to discuss the far-fetched notion that the pregnancy was the creation not of a couple, but of a team of Hollywood professionals.

On 18 November 2006, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tied the knot in a fifteenth-century castle in Bracciano, Italy. Tom Cruise is a faithful and dedicated member of the Scientology religion, and before the wedding it was said that Katie Holmes took part in courses in order to change her religion from that of Catholic to Scientologist. As a result of Cruise’s support of the faith, the wedding was a Scientology ceremony, though publicists later assured the public that they had celebrated an official wedding in Los Angeles the day before. The bride wore a beautiful white gown, and the couple were photographed looking happy with daughter Suri and Cruise’s other children, Connor and Isabella.

For the next five years the couple were reported to be blissfully happy in their marriage, frequently photographed holding hands, kissing and carrying their daughter out and about in New York. However, it seems that what the public saw was somewhat different to what was going on inside the marriage, at least towards its conclusion. Although in April 2012 rumours started to swirl that Katie Holmes was pregnant with her second child, the claim was vehemently denied by her spokesperson. Instead, in the privacy of her home, Katie was planning quite a different surprise: the announcement that she was leaving Tom Cruise to start a new life with their daughter Suri.

According to sources, the actress had been unhappy in her marriage for quite some time and had quietly moved into an apartment in New York, away from the family home. There, she confided her plans to friends and family; changed her phone numbers and email addresses; and finally – on 29 June 2012 – made the shock announcement that she and Tom Cruise would be divorcing after five-and-a-half years of marriage.

Tom was said to have been blindsided by the decision, which appears to have been revealed to him just moments before it was announced to the entire world. He had no idea it was coming, his spokesperson said, and indeed just weeks before, the couple had been seen out and about, holding hands in full view of the cameras.

When the news broke, the actor was in Iceland making a movie and planning a huge party for his fiftieth birthday. After the news, all plans for celebrating were immediately thrown out of the window, and instead he spent the evening quietly with his children, Connor and Isabella. He also chose to remain tight-lipped about the break-up, leaving it to his lawyer Bert Fields to tell reporters, “It’s not Tom’s style to do this publicly. He is really sad about what’s happening.”

As soon as the divorce became public, newspapers were filled with headlines about the apparently warring couple. According to some they were fighting because Tom Cruise wanted Suri to attend a Scientology school while Holmes wanted her raised a Catholic. Meanwhile, other sources claimed that was not the case at all, and that Katie had been quite happy to live her life as a Scientologist, embracing the religion and visiting the Scientology Centre in Los Angeles even when her husband was out of town.

For several days after the announcement, Katie and Suri were kept away from the cameras in the safety of their apartment. There was concern when a large white car was seen sitting near the apartment block, with several men inside, taking a particular interest in the property. Some said that they were private detectives, sent to spy and report on Cruise’s estranged wife, though if that was the case they were not very good at their job since they were spotted on more than one occasion and photographed openly by the press.